Welcome to the first issue of the Forestry E-Letter a new means of bringing you information about the Board and Department of Forestry.

As we rethink our communication strategies and adjust to today’s budget realities, we have substantially downsized our quarterly print publication, Forests for Oregon. At the same time, however, we hope that the Forestry E-Letter - coming to you electronically six times a year - will provide a quick-read tool for bringing you news on a more timely basis.

We’ll share news about Oregon forests in general, and also about developments specific to the department, such as news about our services, our budgetand our staff.

We hope you find this new offering useful.

Thanks,

Dan Postrel

State Forester Recruitment

Nancy Hirsch, Acting State Forester

Search for a new state forester underway

The Board of Forestry is seeking a new state forester, and there's still time for Oregonians to share their thoughts on the attributes the next state forester should have. The Board's brief online survey must be filled out by December 12. Responses to the survey will be used to develop an ideal candidate profile to help guide the Board through the selection process.

The Board has launched a nationwide search for a successor to Marvin Brown, who resigned in October and that job announcement is posted online. Applications are due by December 12. Interviews are scheduled to begin in January, and the goal is to have the position filled by February.

In addition to the online survey, the process includes stakeholder and Department of Forestry employee forums with the finalists, and an opportunity for incoming Governor Kitzhaber or his representative to meet with the finalists.

Nancy Hirsch, chief of the department’s State Forests division, has been appointed to serve as acting state forester until the position is filled.

The future of Oregon's forests

A complex forest stand in western Oregon

Your chance to help shape the future of forestry in Oregon

The Board of Forestry periodically updates its Forestry Program for Oregon. This strategic planning document provides a long-term vision and action plan for the sustainable management of all of Oregon’s public and private forests.

A draft of the 2011 edition of the Forestry Program for Oregon is now available for review and public comment through the end of December. As members of the public with rich expertise and experience, this is an opportunity for you to help shape the future of forestry in Oregon.

The Board needs to hear from you! If you have ideas for improving the Board’s strategic planning, feel free to submit them during the public comment period.

Please feel free to share this information and web link with others you know. If you like, this could include adding the link to Facebook or other social media pages you may be participating in.

Public comment period opens November 1 on Elliott State Forest management:

Proposed plan would take effect in January 2012

The Oregon Departments of State Lands and Forestry invite the public to submit written comments on the 2010 update of the long-range plan for managing the Elliott State Forest. The 93,000-acre, state-owned forest is located in the Coast Range between Coos Bay and Reedsport.

Ninety-one percent (84,562 acres) of the forest is Common School Forest Lands, owned by the State Land Board. The board oversees management of the forest to provide timber revenue for K-12 schools using sound techniques of land management.

Since 2000, a multi-agency group of foresters and scientists has provided guidance to both agencies on updating the 1994 Elliott State Forest Management Plan and 1995 Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP). After a decade of planning, the team has been unable to reach agreement with the National Marine Fisheries Service on a revised Elliott HCP.

The Elliott became Oregon’s first state forest when acquired in 1930. The State Land Board owns the Common School Forest Lands, while the Oregon Department of Forestry manages the state forest through an agreement with the State Land Board and DSL Lands. Timber harvest revenues, minus the cost of management, go to the Common School Fund to support the state’s 197 K-12 public school districts.

The Oregon Department of Forestry manages 848,000 acres of forests in Oregon for the environmental, social and economic benefit of Oregonians.

The draft plan has a range of expected outcomes for three different forest stand types; designates portions of the forest as conservation areas; protects streams; and retains live trees, snags and downed wood to benefit wildlife over time in harvested areas.

Written comments on the plan must be received by December 30, 2010. A second comment period with public hearing will run from May 1 through July 29, 2011.

ODF suspends Operator of the Year program for 2010

Due to reduced stewardship forester staff levels, ODF officials announced December 6th that the agency is suspending work on the program that selects the Forest Practices Operator of the Year awards recognizing technical excellence, innovation and natural resource protection by Oregon’s logging operators.

“The chief driver behind the decision is the tremendous reduction in staff resources – and especially the 35-40 percent resource reduction within Private Forests – that ODF adapted to in 2010,” said Peter Daugherty, acting chief of the Private Forests Division. “The staff reductions and priority reassignments meant that stewardship foresters were working with landowners and operators on fewer projects, and the awards program was also trying to compete with other agency objectives for resources to be successful.”

“Field staff provided valuable feedback that many operators were going with projects that required less technical engineering and less financial risk in the current season, deferring some more complex operations until markets improve in the next few years. Unfortunately, it is those more complex innovative forest operations that the awards seek to honor each year,” said Daugherty.

The Forest Practices Operator of the Year and Merit Awards program has been presented by ODF annually since 1994.

In This Issue

Welcome
State Forester Recruitment
The Future of Oregon's Forests
Elliott State Forest Planning
ODF suspends Operator of the Year program for 2010